Decatur Central OL McNeil considering three schools

Lukayus McNeil works out with the rest of the Decatur Central football team Thursday, August 8, 2013. / Doug McSchooler/for The Star(Photo: Doug McSchooler Doug McSchooler)

A coaching change at Louisville caused Decatur Central senior offensive lineman Lukayus McNeil to take a step back and reassess the recruiting process.

McNeil, ranked as a four-star recruit by 247sports.com and a three-star by ESPN, Rivals and Scout, said his top three schools as of now are (in alphabetical order) Indiana, Louisville and Oklahoma.

"Those three have been on me the most," said McNeil, who committed to Louisville in November. "I'm just trying to figure out what I'm going to do. I'm still up for grabs."

The 6-7, 270-pound McNeil took an official visit to Indiana over the weekend, which followed an official visit to Oklahoma in mid-December. McNeil gave high marks to the visit to Bloomington.

"I'm not going to lie, I loved it," he said. "It was great. I met a lot of coaches and players. I didn't learn too much because I knew a lot about them anyway, but I got closer to a lot of the players."

McNeil said he talks frequently to Indiana sophomore-to-be defensive lineman Darius Latham, a former North Central star. McNeil said he's developed strong relationships with coach Kevin Wilson and assistant coach Greg Frey, but added that the Hoosiers aren't necessarily No. 1 on his list.

"They were up top not long ago and I still like them a lot," he said. "The coaches are great guys. But they have moved slowly down the scale a little bit from talking to other schools. But they are still up there."

McNeil said he met with Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops the day before the Indiana visit for about 90 minutes.

"He told me I'm a (heck) of a player and he'd like to see me get better and (Oklahoma) is the place for me to get better," he said. "It's a great program. I know they've sent a lot people to the NFL."

Louisville will get the final official visit from McNeil on Jan. 31. He said he'll make his decision in the days following that visit.

McNeil had an in-home visit with new Louisville coach Bobby Petrino last week.

"It went great," he said. "He said he's going to keep talking to me."

There is a real possibility that McNeil could again commit to Louisville.

"I love the coaches," he said. "I actually like them better than the (previous) coaches. It wouldn't be a surprise if I recommitted."